Twinges
by FortySeventhLight
Summary: Hiei can't fix the problem by himself, but apparently the frustration is worth it.


_A fun little piece to write, it evolved entirely from the concluding sentence of this story. lol I love this and hope you will, too!_

_Disclaimer: I wish Togashi would allow us to invest stock in him so that we could all own shares of this fantastic series. But he hasn't done so yet. Shoot._

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**Twinges**

Pillows that once smelled of ash and death now gave off the scent of lavender and musk. These pillows provided lavish comfort for the Lady lord sleeping amongst them, her protégée beside her and sword within his reach.

When he woke and sat up to begin the morning patrol as was requested of him by King Enki, Hiei stretched to reach for his scabbard, but stopped when his fingers brushed orange hair accidentally.

Fearing that he had woken her already, he stayed perfectly still, watching and waiting for her to stir. To his surprise, she didn't even shift and his eyes returned to the task of fetching his choice bane. Once he was up from the oddly shaped bed, he fashioned his sword to his back as usual and then draped his cloak over his shoulders, adjusting it only slightly to accommodate the twinge of pain in his spine.

Impatiently, he leaned to one side in an effort to work the kink out, straining himself more in the process. He groaned in a slight fit of anguish, trying again with more effort to force the irritation to cease, but with no success. Out of options, he resorted to a technique he hated.

"If you don't want such pains from now on," he heard her voice mumble as she turned over to see him splayed out on the floor in a mess of black. "I suggest you not conform to the way I sleep just to accommodate me."

Hiei made an effort to ignore her, his hands arched up over his head pushing against the hard stone surface while his feet applied the same amount of pressure. With great amounts of struggling, he tried to alleviate the stress in his back, hoping for a pop, crack – anything that would subdue this unnecessary suffering.

"I wasn't accommodating you, woman," Hiei replied, still a morning grouch after three years of being her second hand. "You take up too much room, so I have to adjust to how you sleep."

Mukuro propped herself up on her elbow and grinned, watching him attempt to fix the problem on his own. "You always have your trees…"

He shot her a glare. "Would you rather I did?"

She shrugged and continued to smile, her hair having grown in length and extending farther past her chin now. "Never said you couldn't, I just expected you to choose the more comfortable of your options."

"Hn, the trees would probably be more comfortable after this ridiculous bind you've got me in now," he said, groaning again as he added more pressure with no visible signs of relief that Mukuro could note.

He hadn't noticed that she had gotten up from the bed and had come to stand beside him. From his vantage point, he thought surely she was trying to mock him, but when she kicked him in the side, he quickly dismissed that notion as he rolled onto his stomach.

"Damn woman, what are you all about now?" Hiei growled, trying to look up at her before he realized that she had perched herself directly on top of him.

"Shut up and try to enjoy this," she retorted, reaching under his cloak to remove the sword he had so neatly placed there. After setting it aside (much to Hiei's disapproval), she balled up her fists and then started moving her knuckles along his spine, finding pockets of torture he had never known existed and eradicating them just as quickly as she discovered them.

One by one, she sought out all his frustrations and worked through them, kneading away pains and replacing them with waves of reprieve. Hiei would never have admitted it, but if this was the treatment he'd expect to receive every morning just for wrapping his arms around her every night, he was obliged to endure the agony for the rest of his life.

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_Thoroughly enjoyed writing this one, team! I hope you enjoyed reading it, and do leave a review for me. Thanks for your time!_


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